TattooDay
The Challenge
Problem Framing
The tattoo experience is highly visual, yet the journey from inspiration to booking is often fragmented. Clients jump between Instagram, artist profiles, studio websites, messages, and tattoo show pages just to find the right artist and understand their availability.
At the same time, artists and tattoo shows lack one centralized space to connect with potential clients.
Key Challenges
Scattered discovery
Clients rely on social media, Google, and studio websites to discover and compare tattoo artists.
Disconnected tattoo shows
It can be difficult to discover which artists are attending a show and who still has availability.
Unclear availability
Finding open appointment slots often requires contacting artists individually and waiting for a response.
Fragmented experience
Artist discovery, portfolios, events, availability, and booking are spread across different platforms.
The Goal
Create an intuitive tattoo discovery and booking experience that connects clients, artists, and tattoo shows in one place, making it easier to discover the right artist, explore availability, and find opportunities at upcoming shows.
HOW MIGHT WE’S?
- How might we make discovering the right tattoo artist easier?
- How might we make artists’ availability more visible?
- How might we connect tattoo shows, artists, and clients?
- How might we simplify the journey from inspiration to booking?
Research Approach
The client brought over 30 years of experience as a tattoo artist and currently works within a tattoo studio, giving him deep first-hand knowledge of the industry, its workflows, and the needs of both artists and clients.
Before the design phase, he had already conducted his own research and validated the core product needs through years of direct industry experience. Because of this strong domain foundation, additional primary research was not necessary at this stage.
My research focused on competitive analysis to understand existing solutions, identify gaps in the market, and uncover opportunities for TattooDay.
From there, I moved directly into translating the client’s industry knowledge and product requirements into the UX and visual experience.
Competitive Analysis
Most competitors provided strong basic calendar functionality. Some supported shared schedules or family communication, but important gaps remained:
Scheduling & Transportation
Treated as separate tasks.
Family Coordination
Often required additional messaging tools.
Reminders
Usually based only on the event start time.
Traffic-aware departure planning
Was limited or unavailable.
Visual Elements
Typography
Colors
Components
Final Design
Developer Handoff
Smooth Collaboration
Throughout the project, I worked closely with the development team to make sure the design vision translated smoothly into the final product. Since TattooDay includes multiple interconnected experiences for clients, tattoo artists, and tattoo shows, it was important that flows, interactions, and component behavior were clearly communicated.
I prepared structured Figma files with reusable components, defined states, spacing, and interaction patterns, and provided the specifications developers needed for implementation. During development, we stayed in close communication to clarify UX decisions, address technical constraints, and make adjustments when needed.
This ongoing collaboration helped maintain consistency between the design and the final implementation while creating a smoother handoff process.
Reflections
Key Takeaways
Industry expertise accelerated the process
Working with a client with 30+ years in the tattoo industry gave the project a strong foundation from the start.
Designing for multiple user types requires flexibility
Clients, artists, and tattoo shows have different goals, but their experiences need to work as one ecosystem.
Simple discovery is key
Making artists, styles, locations, events, and availability easy to explore became a core UX priority.
Reusable patterns create consistency
A structured design system helped keep 80+ screens cohesive as the product grew.
Impact
Growing platform community
3600USERS
End-to-end product experience
80 +SCREENS
Early user feedback and engagement
10 +REVIEWS
Next Steps
TattooDay continues to evolve and grow. As more users, tattoo artists, and tattoo shows join the platform, the product continues to expand with new features and improvements to existing experiences.
The roadmap includes new functionality designed to make discovering artists, connecting at tattoo shows, and booking tattoo sessions even easier. As the platform grows, we continue to refine the experience based on real-world use and emerging needs within the tattoo community.
TattooDay is just getting started. 🖤
LET'S TALK
And make something meaningful.
Thanks for scrolling all this way ✦